1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for use with a thin cartridge such as an IC memory cartridge.
2. Description of Related Arts
A connector typically has contacts which are to be connected to terminals of a printed circuit board mounted in a frame of a cartridge. Conventionally, the connection of the contacts to the terminals is achieved by inserting the entire connector into an opening formed in a front face of the frame.
The cartridge for use with such a conventional connector should be designed so that the opening of the frame has a greater size (i.e., greater length and width) than a front face of the connector. Therefore, the cartridge tends to have a greater thickness. This makes it difficult to reduce the thickness of the cartridge.
On the other hand, where a cartridge is constructed such that a part of a printed circuit board thereof projects from a front face of a frame thereof, the entire connector need not be inserted into the inside of the cartridge in the aforesaid manner. Therefore, it is relatively easy to reduce the thickness of the cartridge. In this case, however, terminals patterned on a front surface portion of the printed circuit board are exposed to the outside, so that an IC (i.e., intergrated circuit) on the printed circuit board is susceptible to electrostatic discharge damage.
A thin cartridge has been proposed which includes a hollow frame having an insertion space therein with an opening on one face thereof, and a printed circuit board provided on an interior surface of the frame in the insertion space and having terminals patterned thereon. A connector for use with this thin cartridge is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-5671 (1993).
The connector disclosed in this publication includes two types of wall portions as means for engagement with the frame of the cartridge. More specifically, a first wall portion is to be inserted into the insertion space through the opening of the frame of the cartridge, while a second wall portion is to be located outside the frame with the printed circuit board interposed between the first wall portion and the second wall portion. In this case, the thickness of the cartridge can advantageously be reduced in comparison with the case where the entire connector is inserted in the frame.
However, the complexity and size of the connector tend to be increased by the provision of the two types of wall portions for engagement with the interior and exterior of the frame. Further, contacts of the connector to be connected to the terminals of the cartridge are respectively provided in retention grooves formed on a face of the first wall portion opposed to the second wall portion. In an inspection process after production of the connector, whether or not the contacts of the connector are properly arranged in the retention grooves is checked by viewing the connector from the front side of the first and second wall portions. This makes the inspection difficult.
Particularly where the arrangement of the contacts is automatically checked through image processing with the use of a CCD (i.e., charge-coupled device) camera, an image obtained by viewing from the front side of the first and second wall portions is used, so that the inspection accuracy is reduced. As a result, the automatic inspection through the image processing is virtually impossible.